Next Target In NYC's War On Lead: Small Homes

NEW YORK — New York City is taking its war on lead to a new front: Small homes. Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration wants to require owners of one- and two-family homes to get annual inspections for lead paint hazards as part of a sweeping plan to end childhood lead exposure.

Those buildings aren't currently covered by a 2004 city law that requires landlords of certain older dwellings to do such inspections and address any dangers that arise.

"We’re going to call upon landlords in those smaller buildings to step up and do the kinds of tests and the kinds of improvements that others have had to do," de Blasio, a Democrat, said at a news conference Monday.

The change is one piece of a broader plan the administration unveiled Monday to prevent and address childhood lead poisoning, a problem that city officials say has become much less common since the 2004 law was enacted.

The law applies to buildings erected before 1960 that have three or more units. It requires landlords to have the annual inspections done in any apartment that houses a child younger than 6 years old. Kids at those ages are most at risk for lead poisoning, which can cause a range of problems including brain damage, slow development and learning problems.

The de Blasio administration wants to expand the law to cover rentals in one- and two-family homes by working with the City Council. Doing so would lead to an additional 2,500 inspections in homes where such young kids live, according to a Monday report outlining the city's plan to fight lead exposure.

"Now we will be able to say for the first time that every rental apartment in the City of New York will be subject to an annual inspection so that we are being preventative," said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, who developed the plan as de Blasio's senior adviser to citywide lead prevention.

In addition to expanding the 2004 law, the city plans to broaden its definition of lead paint and dust so that lower levels of the toxic chemical will trigger fixes.

The plan also includes more proactive enforcement of the 2004 law; dedicated nurses for kids who have elevated blood-lead levels; and a $7 million investment to test for and get rid of lead hazards in family shelters. De Blasio's previously announced plan to inspect all 135,000 New York City Housing Authority apartments where lead hasn't been ruled out is also part of the effort.

The mayor tapped Garcia as the city's lead-poisoning czar in October amid continued scrutiny of lead poisoning in the city's public housing. The new report, titled "A Roadmap to Eliminating Childhood Lead Exposure," was a product of her first three months in the role.

While de Blasio said private housing is the source of the vast majority of lead poisoning, the problem has dogged him and NYCHA for more than a year.

NYCHA admitted in a settlement with federal prosecutors last June that it failed to perform legally required inspections. And later that month came a reported disclosure that more than 800 kids age 5 or younger had elevated blood-lead levels from 2012 through 2016, a number far higher than city officials had previously said.

De Blasio emphasized that the goal of the city's new plan is to eliminate lead exposure among kids altogether.

"I want people to be clear from the beginning: We mean literal eradication," de Blasio said at a news conference. "The vision here is that there will be a day not so long from today when not a single child in this city suffers from lead paint exposure."

(Lead image: Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a news conference in Albany on Jan. 15, 2019. AP Photo/Hans Pennink)